You know how you love pie? But it's not so easy to transport? LIke say… while hiking? I got to thinking about an upcoming hike and here I am making hand fruit pies. I've made pies before and tarts, but I gotta say I love this new form of pie! These will be so easy to bring along for a picnic.

Are any of you "King of the Hill" fans? I can't think about hand fruit pies and not think about Bobby Hill. Particularly the episode "The Wedding of Bobby HIll" where after a number of pranks Luanne puts dirt in his fruit pie and Bobby screams "why would I put dirt in my own fruit pie?! My own fruit pie!" if you've never watched the show I'd recommend checking it out, it's hilarious and Bobby takes his fruit pies quite serious, he loves his fruit pies! There's another great episode where Bobby is going crazy for capers, putting capers on everything, and his mom says "Bobby, honey, what happened to mixing capers with one of your fruit pies?" and Bobby says rather serious and somber "That was a big disappointment. I'd rather not talk about it."

And on that note, the pies are pretty easy to make and well worth it, this pie dough recipe is the absolute best, I've tried a few different kinds and if you're like me, you've discovered not all pie doughs are easy to work with, however this recipe blew me away, it only needed to be chilled for 15 minutes and the stuff rolled out like silk, easy to roll, easy to move around, this one is a keeper! Too many times I've had dough that crumbles and falls apart before I can ever get it in the dish.

Just a few things to note about this recipe, it says to roll each pie out to 6", which I did, however it didn't seem large enough to hold 2 tablespoons of filling, which caused other problems of not having enough dough to seal the edges properly, as you can see from the photo the liquid was really coming out quite a bit in the oven, and with that said I would strongly recommend using a baking sheet that has a rim, I used a flat sheet and that fruit was oozing right to the edge. So maybe 7" might work a bit better.

Oh, and I grew one strawberry. Yes. one. I bought 6 plants last year and this is the only one producing fruit, it only grows one strawberry at a time. But it's a good strawberry at that.

I hope you get a chance to make these pies, they're so delicious, I think I might be as much as a fan of hand fruit pies as Bobby Hill! Enjoy your hand pies! Recipe below

Update: I almost forgot, since google reader will be gone as of Monday there are a couple options that are good alternatives, you can follow pixels + crumbs on feedly or bloglovin', feedly is nice because you can import all your stuff from google reader, and they have a nice interface, but bloglovin has a very nice interface as well, and I kinda like how the post are viewed.

Strawberry Hand Pies
(adapted from Country Living)

2 1/3 cups all-purpose flour (divided)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 1/4 teaspoon salt (divided)
1/2 cup chilled water
1 stick cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
2 large egg yolks (divided)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
12 ounces of fresh strawberries, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
3 tablespoons strawberry jam
1 tablespoon sanding sugar

Preheat oven to 350°. In a large bowl, combine 2 1/4 cups flour, baking powder, and 1 teaspoon salt. Using a pastry blender or 2 knives, cut butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles coarse sand. Add 1 egg yolk, 1/2 cup chilled water, and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla and mix until just combined. (If dough is dry or crumbly and doesn’t stay together, add up to 3 tablespoons more chilled water.) Transfer dough to a lightly floured surface and knead 2 to 3 times, just until dough comes together. Return dough to bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate until chilled, about 15 minutes.

To make filling: In a medium bowl, combine strawberries, confectioners’ sugar, and jam, plus remaining flour, vanilla, and salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl, beat remaining yolk and 1 tablespoon water for egg wash; set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out dough to 1/2-inch thickness. Using a 3-inch round cookie cutter, cut dough into 6 rounds.

Roll 1 round into a 6-inch circle. Spoon a heaping 2 tablespoons filling onto half of circle, leaving 1/2-inch border. Brush the edges with egg wash, then fold dough over filling. Using a fork, crimp the edges to seal hand pie. Transfer to a parchment-lined baking pan. Repeat with remaining dough rounds and filling.

Using a toothpick, poke a few holes in the top of each pie. Brush with remaining egg wash and sprinkle each pie with 1/2 teaspoon sanding sugar. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.